Inventories of Jesuit Silver Altarware Classifying the Shape-Shifting Substance of Colonial Theopolitics
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Abstract
This is a study of an inventory of silver altarware that adorned Jesuit churches and chapels in New Spain (colonial Mexico). Using a performative lens, it analyzes how these inventories were produced, emphasizing the role of notaries who navigated two spatial concerns: the Spanish Crown’s desire to monitor the Jesuits after their exile and the need to conceptualize the sacredness of silver objects altered by divine presence. This exploration raises critical questions about how these inventories reflect processes of world-making and the interplay of human and non-human agency, as discussed by science studies scholar Andrew Pickering. I argue that these inventories reveal the complexities of colonial power, illustrating how divine presence on the altar constrained the Crown’s authority. Ultimately, the study highlights the dynamic between the Crown's attempts to dismantle the Jesuit order and the enduring influence of sacramental logics that shape the exercise of power within this colonial context.
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